Annual Meetings/Events
2021
November 17-18: Private Lands Burning- Developments, successes, and what comes next?
The Southern Sierra Prescribed Fire Council and UCCE will host the 2021 Annual Meeting and Outreach Event through a virtual platform on the 17th and in person field day on the 18th. More details to come.
If you are interested in attending, please fill out this survey:
2020
November 17: "Fire as a Tool" Virtual Annual Meeting and Outreach Event
The Southern Sierra Prescribed Fire Council and UCCE hosted the 2020 Annual Meeting and Outreach Event through a virtual platform for the first time. The 2020 Creek Fire in the Southern Sierra set the stage for the Annual Meeting, drawing 130 registrants.
FIre as a tool
Thank you to those who were able to attend our 2020 Annual Meeting. A recording of the sessions will be available shortly for interested parties.
2020
Webinar Series: Prescribed Fire on Private Lands
This series was produced in collaboration with UCCE Mariposa. Please visit UCCE Mariposa for additional handouts and information.
2019
November 5, 6 and 7, 2019: UCCE Prescribed Fire on Private Lands Workshop, Field Day and SSPFC Annual Meeting, Central Sierra Historical Society & Museum, Shaver Lake
Click here for agenda and summary report.
The Southern Sierra Prescribed Fire Council hosted its 2019 annual meeting at the Central Sierra Historical Museum in Shaver Lake, CA. The meeting’s theme was Reflect-Review-Rekindle, as a panel of fire practitioners reflected on past burning practices, a slate of guests reviewed current and changing policies related to prescribed fire, and an interactive session explored ways our Council can collaboratively rekindle burning practices and burn through current barriers to getting more fire restored to the southern Sierra landscape.
The field day was conducted on Southern California Edison Land in collaboration with the SoCal Edison Prescribed Fire crews. Approximately 9 acres were prepared and burned during the field day with the assistance of workshop participants.
2018
Annual Meeting: October 23 to 25, 2018
Supervisor's Office, Sequoia NF Supervisor’s Office with field trips to Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest and Big Stump & McKenzie Rx Burn
The Southern Sierra Prescribed Fire Council had an excellent turnout for its 2018 annual meeting and field trip, hosted by the Sequoia National Forest/Giant Sequoia National Monument in Porterville. Nearly 30 people attended the meeting and more than 25 went on the field trip, which included visits to CAL FIRE's Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest and the 2017 Pier Fire on the Sequoia National Forest. Our thanks to Jim Kral with CAL FIRE and Sequoia National Forest’s Brent Skaggs for their help in planning and hosting our field trip. We also congratulate Brent on his well-earned retirement, distinguished career and outstanding work in restoring fire to the southern Sierra landscape.
Click here for agenda and meeting notes.
Images below:
Left: Forest Supervisor Teresa Benson welcomes the Council to the Sequoia National Forest.
Middle: Participants visiting the Pier Fire.
Right: Notification sign for local prescribed fire.
2016
Annual Meeting: October 26, 2016, Betty Rodriguez Regional Library Meeting Room
Click here for Agenda
This meeting focused on continuing the good work that's been done since the joint symposium meeting in 2014 with the Northern Sierra Prescribed Fire Council, and discussed current Rx Fire collaborative initiatives and other cooperative efforts already underway. We discussed what makes these events successful, how we can continue in the future.
2014
A Future with Fire: Exploring opportunities for a more resilient California (December 2-4, 2014, Sacramento, CA)
The first joint Prescribed Fire Council meeting was a huge success! There were over 200 participants that attended the conference. We were really pleased with the depth of conversations and the amount of energy everyone put in to planning and participating during the event. Over the holiday break, members of both the Southern Sierra and Northern California Prescribed Fire Council's pulled together action items and reached out to those that are interested in participating in actions for the coming year.
We are pleased to announce we teamed up with the Northern California Prescribed Fire Council as well as other agencies and organizations to host a joint meeting to discuss the future of managing wildfires and planning large prescribed fires. The 2-day conference sought to provide a science-based framework for issues, identifying and discussing challenges and opportunities to overcome challenges, and to outline next steps for cooperative and collective action. The conference focused on science, regulation, policy, and management in California, and highlighted examples at the regional, state, and national levels for the scaling up fire management conversation.
2013
Inaugural Meeting - November 5-6, 2013, Clovis, CA
Southern Sierra Prescribed Fire Council held its inaugural meeting last week, with 75 participants from communities, tribes, academia, and conservation groups, as well as federal, state and local agencies. Classroom sessions ranged from the history of fire in Yosemite and current research being done on the Rim Fire, through panels on air quality regulations and training, to public outreach lessons learned. A half-day field tour of Grant Grove focused on challenges that park staff face with outreach and smoke management during times of high visitor use and the coordination between National Parks staff and the local fire safe council to complete fuels reduction and restoration of fire to protect the surrounding community.
Meeting Agenda
Meeting Summary
Presentations
Fire Regime Attributes - Jan van Wagtendonk
Why the Rim Fire was "unprecedented" - Gus Smith
Voice in the Wilderness - Deb Schweizer
Training and Coordination and TREX Training - Jeremy Bailey
Regional Project Updates
California Black Oak Burning - Jonathan Long
Kings River Experimental Burn - Carolyn Hunsaker
Hogdon Meadows and prescribed fire effects on the Rim Fire - Taro Pusina
Central Sierra Province Prescribed and Managed Fire - Becky Estes
Indiana Summit RNA - Marc Meyer
2012
Smoke and Fire Symposium - March 2012, Clovis CA
About 80 people were in attendance — from many disciples in the Forest Service, Park Service, multiple Air Air Pollution Control Districts, Defenders of Wildlife, and universities. The symposium featured a number of presentations that to frame the ecological need for increased prescribed fire and the regulatory environment that managers face. These morning presentations were followed up with break-out sessions to identify the barriers, needs, and ways to work together through the possible formation of a Prescribed Fire Council. A half-day field trip scheduled at the Sierra National Forest was snowed out, so participants stayed snug in the High Sierra Ranger District conference room and had a great four-hour conversation. According to the workshop evaluations, it was a good trade: although they missed having a field experience, people reported wanting more opportunities to share in an open dialogue of this kind. Carolyn Ballard, High Sierra Ranger District Fire Management Officer and fire and fuels management specialist on the Dinkey Landscape Restoration (CFLRP) Project led the impromptu dialog. The session opened with Carolyn giving the history of the landscape through a series of photos. The area we viewed had three entries of fire, and is also home to the Pacific Fisher.